Nancy Wisti-Grayson, Executive Director SUPPORTED BY The Economy Shop
PARTNERING WITH Park District of Oak Park
PROGRAM
WINE & APPETIZERS
WELCOME
Georgia Keleher
DINNER
INTRODUCTION OF PAST ULYSSEANS
Jack Kennelly
INTRODUCTION OF AWARDEES & PRESENTATION OF ULYSSEAN AWARDS
MARC & DORIE BLESOFF
Georgia Keleher
ROBERT GILES
Jack Kennelly
SANDY LENTZ
Megan Ulczak
CLOSING
Georgia Keleher
Music provided by Ingrid Schimnoski
ULYSSEAN AWARD ABOUT THE
Since 2004, beginning with the Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, we have been honoring distinguished members of the community with our Ulyssean Award.
Ulysses, King of Ithaca, is one of the legendary Greek heroes of Homer’s Iliad He is most famous for the ten eventful years he took to return home after the ten-year Trojan War He is the hero who is chronicled in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, and is a man with unfailing vision to accomplish his goal, to return home
Inspired by the 20-year epic of this hero, Tennyson created his poem, Ulysses, written in the 1800s. He presents the aging King a few years after his return to Ithaca Ulysses is restless and seeks a future much like his past life of adventure
Before he embarks on his final journey, he extols his thirst for adventure and knowledge and encourages his aged friends to join him. He makes a speech to them, ending with,
‘“Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’”
It is this thirst for learning, doing, and adventure of body and spirit that is the Ulyssean Journey.
The Ulyssean Award honors individuals in the community who exemplify this lifestyle and philosophy.
The specific criteria for the award are: an individual must be age 50 or above, they must have demonstrated commitment to the continued quest for lifelong learning, and they must have had significant involvement in, and made contributions to, the community which have served to broaden our social, educational, and/or cultural horizons
Congratulations to our 2024 honorees:
Marc and Dorie Blesoff
Robert Giles and Sandy Lentz
MARC & DORIE BLESOFF
ROBERT GILES SANDY LENTZ
Ulysseans
Redd Griffin* and Sherlynn Reid*
Virginia Cassin* and Rev. F. Dean Lueking
Lee Brooke* and Chatka Ruggiero
Gus Kostopulos* and Sylvia* & Gysbert* Menninga
Roberta L. Raymond* and Norbert Teclaw*
David Sokol and Sandra Sokol
Lawrence Christmas* and Donald Offermann*
Marguerite Bloch and Barbara Furlong*
Jeanette Fields* and Jim Bohenstengel
Hariette* & McLouis Robinet and Nancy Waichler
Harold T. Rohlfing* and John L. Hedges
Mena & David Boulanger and Michelle Germanson*
Ann & Gene Armstrong and Marty Noll
Harriet Hausman* and Barbara Ballinger*
Janet & Bob* Haisman and Ken Trainor
Nancy Teclaw* and Rev Don & Dolores* Register
Margorie* & Galen* Gockel and Stephanie Clemens
Robert Downs, Mary Kay O’Grady, and Charles Williams
John Seaton and Gerald F Lordan
Rose Meyer and Tom & Marcia Palazzolo
*Deceased
DORIE ELLZEY BLESOFF
Dorie Ellzey Blesoff has lived in 13 different towns/cities She states unequivocally that Oak Park is her favorite – for the past 39 years! Oak Park was chosen for its ethos of active community engagement, commitment to racial justice, architectural beauty, gorgeous trees, and its compassion for how humanity is evolving
She describes her life as “full, meaningful, and creative.” She and Marc have raised three (now grown) children who went to Longfellow, Beye, and OPRF and played in countless softball and baseball games. She’s always worked fulltime (including 9 years at West Sub), has been a long-time member of Euclid Ave. United Methodist Church and a member with family at Oak Park Temple She is a green activist and was involved in the first official “Green Block” in Oak Park Dorie writes and performs original music and hosted a community CDrelease concert at 19th Century Club to celebrate turning 50. (That album is on Spotify – “Handin’ Down the Love”).
Her career highlights include providing consulting services to organizations desiring a healthy and inclusive workplace and that gives back to the community – including family businesses, organizations in healthcare, public sector and nonprofits She has taught for 27 years,
and counting, at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy in the undergraduate major and master’s degree of “Learning and Organizational Change.” Most recently, she served as the Chief People Officer for Relativity, a technology company based in Chicago that grew from 200 to 1200 employees during her 10 years there.
These days in her semi-retirement Dorie enjoys spending more time with family and friends - traveling and talking every day with Marc, raising food and native plants with her daughter and granddaughter at their multi-generational home, staying cool and warm with the new geothermal HVAC system, supporting the One Earth Film Festival focus on using art to build community commitment to climate justice She participates in Race Conscious Dialogues and serves on the Reparations Working Group at Euclid church to support the work of the Oak Park Reparations Task Force She coaches women leaders who are movers and shakers and who care about their well-being, and she intends to complete another album that features her original music to celebrate life in her 70’s!
Dorie is grateful for all the people who have supported her, offered friendship, laughed and cried with her, educated her, and inspired her.
MARC BLESOFF
Marc is a child of the 60’s and of New England He is a Celtics and Red Sox fan. Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, he grew up near Boston in Medford and on Cape Cod, visited his Yiddish-speaking grandmother in Malden, played basketball at Medford High School and lacrosse at Bowdoin College, worked as the letter-carrier in Woods Hole, lived on Bailey Island, Maine, helped lead the 1970 student strike at Bowdoin, went to Catholic University law school in Washington, DC, supported the American Indian Movement (AIM) in Sioux Falls, SD, helped stop homeforeclosures in NW Indiana, served on the Oak Park Board of Trustees (Ginny Cassin was his mentor), worked as a Cook County Assistant Public Defender for 25 years, helped found the Windmills softball organization in Oak Park, helped
start Sunday Night Dinner at the Buzz Café, directed the Wabi Sabi Film Festival before and during COVID, has two Certificates from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, founded Courageusorg, started the continuing weekly Zoom drop-in ‘Aging With Intention’ 4½ years ago, enjoys Fitzgerald’s, is a member of the Oak Park Temple Chevrah Kadisha, enjoys cooking, writes a monthly conscious aging column for the Wednesday Journal, supports Arbor West Neighbors, lives in an intergenerational two-flat with daughter and granddaughter, currently serves as chairperson of the Oak Park Aging In Communities Commission, has dinner once a month with five other old guys and envisions Oak Park as a town without ageism
BOB GILES
Bob Giles is a life-long resident of Oak Park He graduated from Emerson Grade School before it was Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School and from Oak Park and River Forest High School He holds a BA from Knox College with a major in psychology and minors in philosophy and political science and an MA in history from Roosevelt University. The title of his master’s thesis was “The Hammonds and the Industrial Revolution: an Historiographical Sketch.” He has a doctorate in education from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, while on two-year leave from Morton, he was a teaching assistant as the Assistant Principal of University High School (Uni High) and recipient of the Dodd’s Memorial Scholarship The title of his dissertation was “Government, Race and Elementary Education in Oak Park, Illinois: A Case History of Decision Making”
In his senior year of high school, he was co-chairman with Percy Julian, Jr., of the Youth Division of the Oak Park-River Forest Chapter of the National Council of Christians and Jews He marched with his wife Marilyn down Lake Street in support of Open Housing the weekend after Martin Luther King was killed He was a member of the combined Mission Boards of the Oak Park United Church of Christ and the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Park (before their unification) when Bobbie Raymond asked for and received support from the boards to use a room in the basement of the United Church of Christ for the Housing Center. He was a member of the Campaign Against Pollution and was a founding member of the Village Board’s Environmental Committee. While observing the District 97 Board of Education wrestle with reorganization, he served on the District’s finance committee
Giles completed 50 years in public education He has been a social science teacher, head of the social science department, assistant principal, curriculum director and superintendent of J Sterling Morton High School in Berwyn, Cicero, Stickney, Lyons, Forest View, and McCook. For 14 years in retirement, he was the part-time acting director of the Federation of Districts for Special Education (FDSE) involving River Forest District 90, Forest Park District 91, Cicero District 99, Berwyn North District 98, Berwyn South District 100 and J S Morton High School District 201 He has served on the education committee, the mission committee, the finance committee, and the endowment committee of the First United Church of Oak Park He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Oak Park – River Forest Senior Citizens’ Center and a member of the Oak Park-River Forest Township Youth Committee
Giles is an active member of the Rotary Club of Oak Park – River Forest where he has served as President and later as Assistant District Governor Currently he is chair of the Rotary District 6450 Scholarship Committee and serves on both the District’s Foundation Committee and Grant’s Committee
As a singer in high school, Giles had the tenor lead in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Gondoliers his junior year and Ruddigore his senior year Currently he sings in the choir at the First United Church of Oak Park, the Sounds Good Community Chorus of Oak Park and River Forest, and the Rotary Glee Club
He and his wife Marilyn of 59 years are the proud parents of 4 children and grandparents of 9 grandchildren
ULYSSEAN AWARDEE SANDY LENTZ
Sandy Lentz fell in love with Oak Park almost as soon as she arrived. Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, she earned her bachelor's degree from Syracuse University before heading to Chicago to attend The University of Chicago Law School Making their home in Oak Park, Sandy and her husband David raised their son James and established an incredible group of friends while also sharing their time and volunteer efforts with the surrounding communities.
Not long after graduating from law school, she broke glass ceilings as the first female board member for Augustana Hospital in Chicago and on the church council at Augustana Lutheran Church. She continued board service with the choral group His Majestie’s Clerks.
An avid gardener, Sandy was asked by a friend to volunteer her time on the board the Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory She spent five and a half years as its president She was instrumental in the installation of the Rubinstein Garden, a wonderful addition to the facility used for programs and private rentals. Sandy also joined the Park District of Oak Park’s newly formed Greening Advisory Committee, now called the Environmental Sustainability Committee, which continues to be influential in the Park District’s mission to create spaces and facilities that positively affect our environment and the health of our community
Sandy is in her third term as a Park District Commissioner. She was elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021. She was influential in the creation of the District’s much-needed Community Recreation Center. Its Net Zero status continues to evidence the District’s sustainability leadership She received the Master Board Member recognition from the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) in January 2018
Sandy’s community activities continue through her love of gardening as a University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener. She has been participating since 1999 It includes continuing education, and 30 hours a year of volunteer service. Sandy presents to groups on gardening topics, writes articles and staffs help desks.
To round it all off, Sandy has also spent time as chair of the Grace Care meal ministry at Grace Lutheran Church She also served on the building and grounds committee, facilitating the planting of native plants on the grounds.
Oak Park and the surrounding areas have gained so much from Sandy’s involvement Her passion and energy are contagious and there isn’t a question that she will continue to share this vitality as long as possible She is a wonderful example of the quest for lifelong learning and has made significant and positive contributions to the community We are proud to award her the 2024 Ulyssean Award.
SENIOR CITIZENS’ CENTER OF OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST (SCCOPRF):
The
Lifelong Learning Center for Active, Creative,
and Inquisitive Adults
Over the Age of 50
The SCCOPRF, chartered in 1954, is the oldest senior citizens’ center in Illinois As of October 7, 2019, we began collaborating with the Park District of Oak Park (PDOP).
Through the Park District of Oak Park’s programming, we continue to provide educational, social, and cultural activities for people over the age of 50 Through these activities, older adults can be inspired to continue their quest for lifelong learning, rekindle their creativity and curiosity, and engage with the community We strive to support individual independence and adventures in learning.
Since partnering with the PDOP, we have the good fortune to bring new and exciting opportunities to the community. This is a wonderful partnership that allows us to continue our mission and develop new ways to serve our neighborhood seniors
Programming:
Ongoing activities include art, ceramics, crafts, weaving, lapidary and jewelry making, yarn craft, sewing, stained glass, language classes, exercise programs, game days, local trips, creative workshops, genealogy, film and documentary viewing and discussion, tech help, and more!
There are so many programs and classes to choose from thanks to the efforts of the Active Adults team. New classes are added as suggestions are submitted and we are able to support them
Active Adult listings can be found at pdoporg Classes are held at the Dole Center, 255 August St., Oak Park. You will find the Senior Citizens’ Center of Oak Park and River Forest office there as well.
Membership:
Active Adult membership is $52/year and is available through the Park District of Oak Park. Registration for membership and programming is available at Ridgeland Common, the Gymnastics & Recreation Center, the Community Recreation Center, or online at pdop.org/register.
Memberships provide many programs and classes at no additional charge. As a benefit, with an Active Adult membership, there are some additional discounts offered through the Park District of Oak Park
You do NOT have to live in the Village of Oak Park to participate in our activities. The Active Adult membership is $52/year for everyone. (The Senior Center Board pays the difference between Oak Park resident and non-resident fees Scholarships are also available)
Other Offerings:
The Repair Cafe at the Fox Center brings together members of the community. Volunteers help others by showing how repairs can be made to broken, torn, or non-functioning items, keeping those items out of landfills. Repair Cafe, at 624 S. Oak Park Ave. is open 10:00A-1:30P on the first Saturday of the month. (Active Adult membership is not required.)
Funding:
Thank you to the Economy Shop! We receive monthly grant funding from the Economy Shop where we are in charge of the Housewares room. We are always looking for volunteers to help us sort, price, and display items and also to work on sale days Come join us as a volunteer or just come to shop!
Thank you! By attending this Award Dinner, you have already helped! A portion of your contribution provides funding for supplies and equipment for our programs, subsidizing out-of-district membership, and subsidizing volunteer memberships.
We would love to hear from you and have you join in! You might want to take a class or volunteer, or simply give us feedback Please contact us via email or by phone.
sccoprf@sbcglobalnet (708) 725-2715
Marcia and Rick Ashton
Lynne Bauer
David and Mena Boulanger
Nick and Sue Bridge
Lia Brillhart
Frances and Donald Coe
Ari Furuya
Cheryl Gandolfi
Janet Haisman
Carolyn Hobaugh
Barbara Hunt
Joan Mueller Cochrane
Marie Olmos
Kathy and Ada Onayemi
Teresa Powell
McLouis Robinet
Anne Rooney
Helen Schmucker and Todd Spencer
Diane Slezak
Additional donors can be found on www.sccoprf.com.
ACTIVE ADULT MEMBERSHIP
The Park District of Oak Park’s Active Adult Membership is designed for individuals 50+ to enjoy specifically designed programs to foster community and engage in an active and healthy lifestyle. Memberships are $52/year and members enjoy programming, including arts & crafts, general recreation, and health and fitness in partnership with the Senior Citizens’ Center of Oak Park and River Forest. Programs for members are FREE or greatly reduced and take place at Dole Center, 225 Augusta Ave.
